The Art of Photo Mosaics

Photo mosaics are a sensation. A glamorous and unique art form. The elegance of a photo mosaic is unparalleled. Imagine hundreds of your fondest memories in one breathtaking picture. It's an unforgettable experience.

Photo mosaics tell a story. A terrific recollection of one's life viewed in seconds. If a picture tells one thousand words, a photo mosaic tells one million. It's a miraculous adventure that's absolutely beautiful.

Photo mosaics make fantastic gifts. As opposed to chocolate or flowers, a photo mosaic is a unique gift that shows you really care. Watching the joy and excitement on your loved one's face as they view their photo mosaic for the first time is priceless. It is truly a gift that will be cherished forever.

The History of Photo Mosaics

Although having become recently popular, photo mosaics are not new. Photo mosaics are dated back to the early 1970's. Leon Harmon of Bell Labs wrote article, entitled "The Recognition of Faces", that appeared in Scientific American. To prove that very little detail was required for humans to recognize a face, he included a low resolution rendering of a grayscale Abraham Lincoln. This image of Abraham Lincoln was simply 252 tiles of varying shades of gray.

Based on Harmon's findings, in 1976 artist Salvador Dali used the same image of Abraham Lincoln but this time he used 252 tiles he created. It is not certain that this is the first photo mosaic, but at the very least it is the most well known photo mosaic. It now resides in a private collection in Tokyo.

Technology has come a long way since the 1970's. Now, virtually all photo mosaics are made with computers, using advanced algorithms to place tile pictures in their preferred locations.